Surrey County Council announced the funding last Thursday as part of a £25 million investment over the next five years to improve the condition and safety of Surrey roads. The county-wide programme marks the largest ever investment made by the county council into improving the condition of the road surfaces. The additional ‘prudential’ funding supplements the council’s existing £40m annual road maintenance programme. The new system of capital finance allows councils to self regulate their borrowing to enable increased capital investment so long as those investments are affordable, sustainable and prudent. Six schemes in Woking will benefit with work set to take place between May and October this year and similar size programmes in future years. Improvements will take place in Smarts Heath Road, Mayford; Monument Road, Maybury; Oriental Road, Woking; Park Road, Woking, and Martyrs Lane, Woodham. The schemes were selected on the basis of a technical assessment that included structural integrity and surface condition, as well as consideration of local priorities and the needs of the district. The works will be carried out by Surrey County Council Highways partner Ringway Highway Services Ltd. Helyn Clack, Surrey council’s executive member for transport, said: “We’ve made road improvement a priority because we asked our residents what would make the biggest improvement to daily life in Surrey and they said better roads. “The council has invested a significant amount of money to address its residents concerns. We expect that over the next five years residents will see a noticeable improvement in road quality. “County will continue to provide a high level of information to the public and every effort will be made to minimise any disruption or inconvenience caused.” Local transportation director Stephen Child sees the additional funding as excellent news for residents and motorists across Woking. He said: “I’m delighted we are getting more in the future. The really good news is that it’s a five-year plan and it is all extra funding above what we can spend. “There was a need to carry out work and spend money on certain roads in Woking, this extra money has put us in a great position. “In this financial year 2004/05 it will enable us to do extra work on the ground and complete projects that need to be done sooner rather than later. We now have to put a plan in place and we are meeting next week. “Work has already started on Littlewick Road and we would anticipate the bulk of the works will be completed by September.”